Thus far, my renewed tradition of delving into the works of the cosmic master, H.P. Lovecraft, with a tale per day throughout the gloomy month of October, has offered but brief glimpses into the unspeakable horrors he so artfully conjures. However, this changed with “The Temple”—a narrative of far greater length and grim profundity than any I have encountered in this month’s journey through Lovecraft’s labyrinthine imagination.
This daemoniac laughter which I hear as I write comes only from my own weakening brain.
The tale, presented as a “found manuscript,” is recounted by none other than Karl Heinrich, Graf von Altberg-Ehrenstein, a lieutenant-commander of the Imperial German Navy during the shadowed days of World War I. Altberg, with the detached arrogance befitting his station, pens this chronicle to unveil the bizarre chain of events that led to his inevitable doom. After sending a British freighter and its lifeboats to their watery graves in the cold North Atlantic, Altberg’s crew retrieves a strange artifact—an ancient, carved ivory charm—from the lifeless body of a seaman. What follows is a descent into madness as otherworldly visions and grotesque nightmares haunt the U-boat’s crew while an unseen oceanic force pulls the submarine southward toward horrors unimaginable.
Amid the crew’s increasing delirium and fear, Altberg resorts to brutal measures to maintain his crumbling authority, even executing those whom he deems too far gone to serve. When a mysterious explosion cripples the U-boat’s engines, leaving them stranded beneath the waves, Altberg chooses murder over surrender. As the submarine sinks into the abyss, his crew, driven mad by the cursed charm, stage a futile mutiny, but Altberg coldly slaughters them, leaving only himself and the deteriorating Lieutenant Klenze.
The doomed vessel finally settles on the ocean floor, revealing the eerie remnants of an ancient and fantastical city that Altberg, in feverish awe, believes to be the lost Atlantis. Overcome by this ghastly discovery, and as the U-boat’s power fails, Altberg succumbs to madness. Visions plague his fevered mind, and disembodied voices beckon him toward a strange temple that mirrors the design of the accursed ivory talisman. As the lights flicker out and the last vestiges of sanity slip away, Altberg makes his final preparations. Donning his diving suit, he pens his last testament, sealing the manuscript in a bottle before stepping into the ocean’s eternal embrace. The manuscript, later discovered on the Yucatan coast, leaves behind only hints of the eldritch secrets lying beneath the waves, where Altberg vanished into the cursed ruins of Atlantis.